June 30, 2008

DIY: make your own ice

Ahhh, the rhythm of the seasons...Early morning prowlers sneaking through backyards, driveways and garages, peering in windows and knocking on doors demanding to give away cash. It must be yard sale time! Known by various regional monikers the world over (stoop sale and boot sale are my trans Atlantic faves), the buying and selling of one's used items is a generally well accepted past time, except if you happen to live in Switzerland. I couldn't even find a charity shop when I lived there. Either they don't have any thing they need to get rid of, or the Swiss are too polite to share that information with the general public. Stateside, way before the wonder drug that appears to be reality TV, Americans have been exposing their jock straps, bed pans and crock pots to curbside public appraisal, all in the hopes of carving out more space to store more stuff. And like a good American, instead of wearing a flag lapel pin, I recently took advantage of a classic yard sale moment and bought an ice cream maker, a purchase I had been contemplating for a good long while. Not a huge fan of appliances that do one thing, and I'm not talking about gobbling up counter space in your kitchen, it seemed a larger physical commitment than a financial gamble. Where would I keep it? I even dabbled with the idea of getting one of those ice cream balls, that you fill with ingredients and then roll around the bonfire to activate its magical frozen powers. Seeing as I don't have room for a bonfire, I opted for the plug in variety. Never hopeful, I remained skeptical until I tasted my first batch.
Kerpow, Batman. The best 5 yard sale dollars I spent this spring! I used whatever fruits I had on hand that fateful afternoon, the day I will remember as the severing of my love ties with Ciao Bella Sorbet, sob, sob; (well, except for their blood orange, which remains PERFECT and is continually sought after while forageing in the food wilds). David Lebovitz has written a great primer on ice creams, sorbets, granitas and more: The Perfect Scoop. He worked at Chez Panisse for many years and now lives in Paris, in case you need any convincing of his powers of good taste. I riffed off one of his recipes, combining two different fruits because I didn't have 2 mangoes on hand. The end result was a truly fab combo, both fruits spoke up and worked well together.

Peel the mango and cut away the flesh from the pit. Cut it into chunks and put into a blender with black raspberries, sugar, water, lime juice, rum and salt. Squeeze the mango pit over blender to pull out as much of the pulp and juice as you can. Puree the mixture until smooth. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to Manufacturer's instructions (which hopefully were included in your yard sale find). Once you take it out of the machine it will need to spend a few more hours in your freezer to be really frozen...if you can wait that long to eat it.

Comments

I've cut way back on the yard saling this year, gas is too much money for an "oh, let's just go see what they've got" trip right now. And I've been burned by the ads that promise "Something for Everyone!" but deliver nothing but baby clothes and pink and blue plastic ride-on toys. However I did get some nice Lambs Ear plants at an auction Saturday...

I made banana popsicles last week, loosely based on a spanish version Mark Bittman had in the Times last week, with the added spice of rum. Quite refreshing.

My wife has been practicing with some vanillas (I like to add whatever fruit is seasonal after): an ice milk, a cooked then frozen custardy affair (very rich) and then uncooked and a little less fat. All good, but whatever type you prefer, it's best eaten right away or the next day at the latest. It seems to lose it's home-made lustre after more time in the freezer. Have you seen the price of a vial of vanilla beans?

Pour the half and half into a heavy non-reactive saucepan. Heat to simmering.

Split the vanilla bean and scrape the resin and seeds with a paring knife. Add it all (including hulls) to the simmering liquid. Add a pinch of salt and vanilla extract. Keep on simmer for about 10 minutes.

Separate the Eggs, putting the whites aside for another dish (egg white omelet, for instance). Put yolks into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat slowly. Increase speed and begin to add the sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. Eggs should get pale and buttery in look and feel. Continue to add the sugar until it's all incorporated.

Now slowly pour some of the hot half and half into the egg mixture with the beaters still going (about 1/3 cup at a time). When about 1/3 of the hot half and half has been incorporated into the egg mixture, the egg will be tempered. Now pour the egg mixture back into the sauce pan and return to simmer.

Mix 1 TB corn starch with a little milk and add to the simmering mixture. Stir well put heat on low. Allow it all to bubble and thicken for about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, cover and allow to return to room temperature. Then place mixture in refrigerator for at least 8 hours.

Remove bean hulls right before churning in ice cream maker.

Note: If you can't acquire a real vanilla bean, add 2 more tsp of the vanilla extract.